2/22/2012

US confident of sorting out Iranian oil issue with India

The Obama Administration has exuded confidence that it would comfortably sail through the challenging phase in its relationship with India on the issue of purchase of oil from Iran.

“We’ve worked through hard issues before with India, and we’re looking forward to working through this one,” the State Department spokesperson, Ms Victoria Nuland, told presspersons at her daily news conference.

Ms Nuland said the US is talking to India along with other countries such as China on reducing their dependence on Iranian oil.

“Our goal is to continue to work with India to encourage it to do what it can to reduce its dependence on Iranian crude. We will continue those discussions,” she said.

“We have been saying for a number of weeks now, we’re also working with oil producers who might be able to provide alternative sources of supply. This includes a number of countries around the world,” Ms Nuland said.

The State Department spokesperson said the US has been talking with countries around the world about the implications of the legislation with regard to its expectation that countries will increasingly wean themselves of dependence on Iranian oil.

“We’re talking to India, we’re talking to China, we’re talking to countries in Europe, we’re talking to countries in Asia and Africa, et cetera,” she said.